Olympic sailors go overboard for San Miguel training stint

TEN leading international Lazer teams have just spent five glorious days’ sailing out of San Miguel Marina.

They were preparing for next month’s World Sailing Championships and the 2012 London Olympics and finished on Monday.

Among them were Javier Hernandez, the Tenerife champion and an Olympic competitor, and England’s Paul Goodison, the 2009 World and European Laser champion, who won gold in the Beijing Olympics the previous year.

The sailing cream of Portugal, Sweden, Croatia, Guatemala, England, Germany, Hungary, Uruguay, Denmark and the United States all gathered for some warm-weather action before the Worlds in Australia.

Hernandez, who races for the Real Club Nautico de Tenerife, received a pat on the back from Goodison, who was among a group of sailors invited to train in San Miguel. .

It was the first time so many international sailing teams had gathered in Tenerife, and for Goodison, it was a week to remember because his kit failed to turn up on the Island in time.

“I managed to borrow hiking shorts, boots, rudder and tiller and the only thing missing was sail battens,” he wrote in his blog.

“So we got some twigs and job was a good un! I’m not sure if it’s worrying or not that they didn’t seem to make much difference to how quickly I sailed!

“By day two my kit had arrived, so normal service was resumed and I enjoyed a great five days sailing with guys from all over the world in a group invited by Javier.

“It was a great venue, with a couple of days of strong breeze and a bit more lighter, fickle stuff, and I was encouraged by how I fared across the range. I definitely want to go back and train there in January.”

Hernandez, ranked second by the World International Sailing Federation (ISAF) said: “These are my friends, and at the Olympics they will be my rivals. But it was a real luxury for me to train on my home island.

“The Island, in general, and San Miguel Marina in particular, meet the ideal conditions for training.”

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Posted by admin
on Nov 18 2011. Filed under Local News.
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